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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26849293">A Strange Mirror</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/glowingatmosphere/pseuds/glowingatmosphere'>glowingatmosphere</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Magical Realism</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:27:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,946</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26849293</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/glowingatmosphere/pseuds/glowingatmosphere</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan felt safe escaping to the attic of his grandma’s house, until he found a strange mirror with a strange man trapped inside. The man refuses to reveal the details of his entrapment, but Dan’s feelings urge him to solve the mystery even if it’s the last thing he does.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dan Howell/Phil Lester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Im-PROMPT-u Phandom Creator Challenge 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Strange Mirror</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Dan went in the attic, it was so dusty that he regretted not bringing something to cover his nose and mouth. The square window on the opposite side of the door was big enough to let plenty of sunlight in the room, revealing every spec of dust that Dan added to the atmosphere by touching anything. He struggled to get the window open, his fingers covered in grey dust that he mindlessly wiped off on his jeans.</p><p>He squinted at the afternoon sun and looked down at the backyard where all four of his cousins were sprawled on garden furniture, chatting away. He was too far away to hear what they were saying, but it sounded like they were having fun. Dan did not care to join them but it still stung to see them easily fit with each other and have a good time while he was lurking in a dusty attic like a goblin and spying on them.</p><p>When they were little kids they all played together and Dan felt so lucky to have them, being an only child. But the older he got the more disconnected he felt from them. Games were not enough to bond over anymore, conversations did not feel natural, and Dan got quieter and eventually stopped spending time with them unless he had to be present. But even then he couldn't help being weird and distant around them. It also didn’t help that all of them were at different stages of graduating university or being hired at jobs that their parents were proud of and Dan had done none of those things after an entire year of graduating high school.</p><p>His sense of failure and incompetence was choking the breath out of him and his heart dropped to his stomach every time someone good-naturedly asked him what his plans were. No one had asked lately which made him burn with shame because he could tell his parents had told everyone to stop asking. Dan couldn’t decide whether he appreciated it or whether he was mad at his parents. Maybe both.</p><p>So hiding away in a room that made it hard to breathe was easier than sitting among them and desperately wishing he was somewhere else or someone else. And snooping in grandma’s attic proved to be a more interesting activity. Even though his grandparent’s house was the place where his family spent most holidays, Dan didn’t go up there often. The room was shaped like a labyrinth with narrow paths, cramped with old furniture that his grandma had been unwilling to let go of, like the baby crib she had when she was a baby and used for her three kids who in turn passed it onto their kids, the last of whom was Dan.</p><p>It had eventually made its way there, covered by an old white sheet that Dan had peeled back enough to make sure that it was there. He didn’t know why he wanted to see it. Maybe the shape of it under the sheet was creeping him out and he needed proof that it was what he thought it was.</p><p>Even with the sunlight piercing through the spaces between the contents of the attic, it still looked unnerving. Everything was still and unmoving and belonged to a past that Dan was never there for or was too young to remember. It was exciting to discover the little mysteries that hid themselves within Dan’s grasp. He wished he could ask Grandma to come up with him and tell him about every item, connect it to a story, familiarize him with every piece until Dan ceased to regard it with suspicion. But Grandma was gone. And Dan was left alone to navigate this maze of old wood and trinkets.</p><p>The crib was still in good condition, its mattress slightly yellow and dull after nearly two decades of being stuck up here. Dan ran his hand across its surface, trying to imagine himself sleeping on it as a baby. His fingers touched a different texture and he pulled back a little startled. A bit of white cloth was sticking out of where the mattress met the bars of the crib. Dan couldn’t resist the small excitement he felt at the mystery this cloth offered. He felt around, shoved his hand in, and picked up a small, wrapped object. As he unwrapped it, the cloth turned out to be a handkerchief, light and dark blue lines running along its borders.</p><p>It revealed what looked like a reddish wooden square, small enough to fit in his palm. He turned it around and his stomach flipped at the image. He was staring at what he thought was a framed photo. Dan could see what seemed to be a dimly lit bedroom, no windows and no identifiable source of light. He could see the faint outline of a couple of furniture, definitely a bed and dresser on either side of the room. And in the middle of the room, what seemed to be a person, sitting cross legged with their head bowed so all Dan could see was a mess of dark hair. Dan’s eyes explored every corner and detail of the image with an unpleasant feeling of uneasiness at the undeniable creepiness of its atmosphere.</p><p>And then the person raised their head.</p><p>Dan’s eyes opened wide in shock, his brain already working hard to deny and explain away what he had seen. The person seemed to be still again and Dan had gained enough composure to be brave enough to breathe and convince his shaking hand to move and put the creepy framed image back where he found it.</p><p>“Hello?”</p><p>Dan screamed and threw—whatever it was—far away from him. He didn’t even notice or care where it landed, self preservation urging him to flee the cursed attic.</p><p>-</p><p>It was a couple days later when Dan found the courage to walk through the attic’s still-open door for the second time. Apart from going to sleep in his bedroom, he had avoided the second floor of the house almost completely. Just glancing at the bottom of the stairs that led to the attic before he entered his bedroom made him queasy.</p><p>But now he was standing in that same room he had been two days ago, still dusty, still sunny, still with his heart in his throat. He wanted to stop feeling this way and his way of doing that was to go back to what had scared him to look for an explanation. It wouldn’t be unusual for Dan to have imagined what he saw, maybe even what he heard. It wouldn’t be the first time that his imagination and his anxiety had collaborated against him to get him in trouble. After being repeatedly scolded and dismissed, Dan had learned to keep that information to himself.</p><p>After looking around for it on various surfaces, he continued his search on his knees and eventually found it between the cobwebbed legs of a dresser. He cleaned the webs and turned it around yet again, the same creepy room coming into view.</p><p>This time the occupant was sitting on their bed and turned their head towards Dan as if they’d sensed him. Dan felt tears prickling his eyes and his fingertips went white against the reddish frame.</p><p>“Please don’t leave!”</p><p>Dan held his breath.</p><p>“I won’t hurt you, I promise. I can’t do anything in here.”</p><p>“What the Hell are you?” Dan said in a shaky voice.</p><p>The man, Dan assumed he was a man, looked unsure of what to say.</p><p>“Trapped,” he eventually answered.</p><p>His voice was deep and quiet, and Dan thought it sounded as sad as he looked.</p><p>“Trapped where? Where are you?”</p><p>The man shrugged, looking defeated. “I don’t know.”</p><p>Dan’s knees cramped and the pain jostled him out of his racing thoughts. He sat on the floor, leaning his back against the dresser.</p><p>“What’s your name?” the man asked.</p><p>“Um…” Dan had enough clarity to stop himself from revealing important personal information. A request to know someone’s name seemed innocuous, but Dan had consumed enough stories to know that names had power. And this wasn’t him playing pretend and losing himself in a fantasy world, it was real life and there was a real person staring back at him from a small square gripped in his hand.</p><p>And that person smiled knowingly at him. “Are you debating whether I’m a demon or a wizard trying to steal your identity and force you to be my indentured servant?”</p><p>“Are you?” asked Dan without missing a beat.</p><p>“No.” He narrowed his eyes. “But maybe you are.”</p><p>Dan snorted. “You’re the one who says he’s trapped inside whatever this is, I’ve never seen this before in my life.”</p><p>The man sighed. “Fine. I’ll offer my name first, even though I’m the one at a disadvantage here, seeing as I’m trapped and vulnerable.”</p><p>Dan felt the urge to roll his eyes but he stopped himself. And that’s when he noticed that a small, involuntary smile had crept up his lips and he had stopped shaking.</p><p>“I’m Phil.”</p><p>Would a demon be called Phil? Was that the name an evil creature would choose for themself? Would a demon wear what looked like red plaid pyjamas and a dark blue zipped hoodie? But maybe that’s exactly what a demon would do to throw people off.</p><p>“Dan,” he said against his better judgment and waited for Phil to laugh evilly, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and burst out of the mirror to attack him.</p><p>But Phil just smiled, showing his crooked and very normal human teeth. “Hi Dan.”</p><p>“Hi.” Dan smiled back, and he felt the tiniest pinch in his stomach. Weirdly, it didn’t feel like fear or anxiety.</p><p>-</p><p>The third, and tenth, and he-didn’t-keep-count-anymore time Dan found himself in the attic was yet again to escape his family. His grandma had died almost a year ago, leaving him without a safe person to run to when he felt overwhelmed by adults and peers alike. So instead of the warm kitchen or the lush vegetable garden where he used to work with her and get his hands and knees muddy, he got dusty in a cramped room.</p><p>But this time the attic felt safe and comfortable, and it was the only place where he could talk to Phil uninterrupted. Phil had asked if Dan could carry the mirror with him. Phil insisted it was a mirror, even though Dan had never seen his own reflection in it. Phil wasn’t subtle at all in his request, revealing to Dan that he was bored and very lonely and would rather stay in Dan’s pocket and hear people around them talk and exist.</p><p>Dan hadn’t missed Phil’s reluctance about answering questions relevant to his situation. He avoided telling Dan how he got himself trapped, why, how long he’d been in there. The answers were always, ‘I don’t want to talk about that,’ and, ‘long.’</p><p>So Dan thought it’d be better to stop pressuring him, and focused on how much he enjoyed talking to him. Dan carried him everywhere, and when he couldn’t or when he was in bed sleeping, he leaned the mirror against his window so Phil could enjoy the view of the lake that was visible from Dan’s bedroom. Phil had flat out refused to be hidden away in a drawer or under Dan’s pillow, yelling at Dan with a slight panic tinting his voice when Dan tried to put him under it.</p><p>“I don’t want to be in the dark again,” he told Dan and apologized for yelling.</p><p>That was the first time that Dan truly realized that Phil was literally trapped, wherever he was. Dan wasn’t seeing him through a screen, the other end of which was in a world where Phil could open the door of his room and leave. His room had no door. Phil had no need for sleep, or food, or going to the bathroom. His body was sustained through what Dan could guess was magical or paranormal means. Dan couldn’t begin to wrap his mind around it. He wished he could show Phil to someone, just so they could tell him that he wasn’t living a delusion.</p><p>Phil had told him that the object looked like a plain mirror to everyone else. He had been picked up by a few people, but no one could see or hear him. No one until Dan.</p><p>Dan secretly felt special upon hearing this, but it didn’t put his worries about Phil being a figment of his imagination to rest. And it fanned the flames of his suspicion that Phil was hiding a lot more than he let on. Maybe some of it was bad and Dan shouldn’t trust him. But he couldn’t help himself. He liked Phil. He enjoyed his company and he reveled in the feeling that there was someone who seemed enthusiastic to talk to him too. Dan kept in mind that it could be out of loneliness and Dan was the only person available, but what did it matter? And if Phil wasn’t real, Dan’s mind had made him up for a reason and Dan wasn’t complaining.</p><p>So Phil stayed in Dan’s pocket during all meals with his family—and they had insisted to take all meals together, saying that the death of his grandma made them realize that they needed to strengthen their bond as a family. Dan wished he could take out the mirror put it against his glass so he and Phil could look at each other and share smiles and eyerolls when someone said something stupid.</p><p>But he also felt guilty at the thought of making Phil see him eat because Phil frequently ranted about how much he missed pizza and sweets and all his favourite foods. Dan wished he could shove a chocolate bar through the glass to make Phil happy. He would give up all sweets and he’d never taste pizza again if it meant that Phil could experience those moments of joy again.</p><p>He also found himself spending more time in front of the normal mirror in the bathroom, fixing his hair, adjusting his clothes, picking his face apart and wondering whether Phil could see the tiny red pimple that had sprouted near his lip. Maybe he shouldn’t let Phil look at him today. He shook his head and sighed. He was being ridiculous and his thoughts were painfully embarrassing. Phil was a supernatural being that wore an eternal outfit and hadn’t peed in who knows how long. Dan’s concerns were human concerns. Phil wouldn’t care about these things. <em>Dan</em> shouldn’t care about these things.</p><p>But later, when he dragged himself out of the bathroom and picked Phil up from the window sill, he complimented Dan’s curls, saying they looked very soft and he wished he could touch them. Dan pretended the mirror slipped through his fingers and fell on the bed so Phil wouldn’t see the stupid grin on his red face.</p><p>-</p><p>It had been two months since Dan had gone to the attic. He and Phil had found creative ways to talk in public, one of which was to pretend that Dan was talking to a friend on the phone. Phil was always concealed in some way and Dan had his phone near him with silent headphones in his ears. They weren’t sure if anyone else could see or hear Phil, so Dan always kept a distance, and from a distance it looked like he was indeed having a phone conversation. He was anxious about anyone finding out what he was doing, but the thrill of finding creative hiding spots for Phil filled him with a kind of excitement he remembered feeling only as a little kid, when the world was a constant source of amazement and delight.</p><p>One evening when he was bored of hanging out with his family in the backyard, he missed Phil so terribly and itched to talk to him so badly, he got up and said he had to make a phone call.</p><p>“To whom?” asked his mum with sincere interest and a bit of surprise. Her kid was known to be a stubborn loner.</p><p>Dan shrugged. “A friend.”</p><p>“Ohh,” one of his aunts said, raising one eyebrow and making Dan blush uncomfortably..</p><p>“You have friends?” said one of his cousins and was immediately reprimanded, along with the other one who giggled.</p><p>Dan turned his back to them pressing his lips together, holding himself back from saying something mean.</p><p>“I hate them,” he said when he reached the shore of the lake. The sky was dark blue, drowning everything in a calm blue light, the last light of the day before everything went dark. The lake was still, not a single crease on its surface, with a ring of trees reflecting all around its edge. Dan could hear an orchestra of crickets and his skin felt comfortably warm.</p><p>Summer was almost over and Dan had to return to the city with his parents, no plans about going to school or finding a job. He would have to get one. His parents didn’t understand his struggles completely, and they found it hard to listen, but they would never kick him out and force him to find his way alone. He was their baby, and sometimes Dan felt he couldn’t be anything else in their eyes and couldn’t personally progress past that. He didn’t want to spend his life trapped inside a house alone, no friends, no interaction beyond his parents, and no plans to live life in a meaningful way.</p><p>“You are the best cousin though. They have nothing on you.”</p><p>Phil.</p><p>Dan reached inside his pocket and looked into the mirror. Phil was smiling at him and Dan eagerly smiled back. He was out of sight here, so he didn’t bother with theatrics.</p><p>“It’s your last week here, don’t you want to spend it with your family?”</p><p>Dan looked down at him and smiled. His curls fell over his forehead.</p><p>“Nah,” he said as he swept his hair back. “I prefer being here with you.”</p><p>“It’s okay if you want to go. I’ve spent a lot of time alone, I know how to entertain myself.”</p><p>Something always tugged at Dan’s heart every time Phil mentioned his long term confinement. He thought it was pity, maybe sadness. He wouldn’t wish that kind of life on anyone, and he couldn’t begin to imagine what it had been like for Phil, what it was still like.</p><p>“What’s wrong?”</p><p>Dan looked over at the lake. The light was slowly disappearing, the trees dark silhouettes blending into the sky. He looked down at Phil, his heart heavy. He liked him. There was no turning back to who he was before he met Phil. He didn’t want to go back home and carry with him a strange object, hiding even more than usual just so no one would think he was crazy. Maybe he was. Maybe loneliness had finally exacerbated all his other mental issues and they had all decided to ride into the sunset taking Dan with them.</p><p>Dan took a deep breath and sighed.</p><p>“I need to know Phil. I don’t want to force you to tell me because I can tell that it’s difficult for you, but I can’t keep going this way. It’s not even curiosity anymore. I’m seriously starting to think that I’m literally crazy. That I’ve made you up and I’m talking to myself. Please,” Dan gripped the frame as if he could break it and release the boy he spent almost three months talking to and falling in love with, Dan admitted that with a pain so tremendous he swore it would rip his chest apart if he didn’t hold himself together with effort. “If you care about me please tell me.”</p><p>Tears reached Dan’s lips and he didn’t realize he was crying until he tasted saltiness. He licked his lips, wiped cheeks, and waited.</p><p>Phil didn’t say anything for a long time and Dan thought he was giving him the silent treatment, but then he heard a small sigh.</p><p>“I care about you. That’s why I can’t tell you.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“I can’t, Dan. And I can’t prove to you I’m real because I have no means of doing that. But I am. And you’re not crazy.”</p><p>Dan blinked away new tears. He was in love with a boy he very likely had made up. How narcissistic of him to create an extension of himself and then fall in love with it.</p><p>“Phil, that’s not good enough. I need answers. Please.”</p><p>Phil went silent again, and Dan resisted the urge to keep pushing. They’d done nothing but talk all summer and he’d learned that when Phil wasn’t talking he was taking time to collect his thoughts. So Dan waited and hoped.</p><p>“I’m not sure what this is or how it works. I remember the year I was trapped here and from what I’ve heard since we met, I think it’s been four years. But time doesn’t pass here. I’m stuck. Sometimes I feel I don’t even exist. I can’t even die.”</p><p>Phil paused and Dan wished he could reach through the glass like he had wished countless times and hold his hand.</p><p>“I was in your position. I had started university and I shared a house with other students. I found the mirror in my room. Someone had left it in the corner of my closet. But I didn’t freak out like you did when I saw someone looking back,” he laughed sadly.</p><p>Dan couldn’t find it in him to laugh. He was overwhelmed and breathlessly hanging on to Phil’s every word. He was afraid that if he breathed Phil would stop talking.</p><p>“The person in the mirror was also trapped. It was the first time I had left home to live by myself and I was so scared of new people and new experiences. I spent almost all my time talking to him. My housemates invited me to go out with them and whenever I did they dragged me to clubs and I hated it there. And I missed him so terribly, I stopped accepting their invitations. And then I stopped going to class. I spent every waking moment with him. And then he told me there was a way for me to help him escape.”</p><p>Dan’s heart fluttered. All this time he had wanted to know how he could save Phil. He suspected Phil knew because it was one of the topics that Dan often tried to bring up and Phil either dodged or unconvincingly said he didn’t know. </p><p>Phil looked up at him. “Are you sure you want to hear the rest?”</p><p>“Yes,” Dan said immediately. “I do.”</p><p>Phil took a deep breath and nodded. “I would have done anything for him at that point. I wanted to free him so desperately that I wasn’t thinking clearly. And he took advantage of that. He said there was a spell and if I said the words I would free him and we could be together. And I did.”</p><p>Dan knew that the spell had worked, but not in the way Phil’s person had promised. Dan was holding the evidence in his hand. “You switched places.”</p><p>Phil nodded.</p><p>“And he knew?”</p><p>“He did. And I feel angry sometimes that he tricked me like this, but after having been in here I can see why he did it.”</p><p>Dan felt anger and heartbreak and he wished he could find the person that did this to Phil and drown him in the lake. Dan was seething and wanted to send a thousand curses wherever that person was, but Phil looked so sad and didn’t deserve to hear Dan’s hateful and passionate rant. So neither of them spoke for a few minutes.</p><p>“What are the words?”</p><p>Phil shook his head. “I told you what happened because I thought you deserved to know. I don’t want to keep anything from you, but I’ll take this knowledge to the grave. And if I never die, I’ll keep existing in here in peace, knowing that no else will be taken advantage of. No one will suffer because of me.”</p><p>“Phil-”</p><p>“No,” Phil said firmly. “You can stop talking to me if you want, you can put me back in the attic, you can do whatever you want if it means you’re safe. I can’t avoid you, but if you keep asking me I’ll ignore you. I haven’t talked to anyone in years before I met you. I can do it again.”</p><p>And to demonstrate his point, Phil crossed his arms and looked away.</p><p>“Phil, you’ve been trapped for so long. You deserve to escape and live your life.”</p><p>“So do you.”</p><p>“You haven’t seen your family in four years. Time does pass here. They probably know nothing about you. You’re probably missing in the real world.”</p><p>“You think I haven’t thought of that?” Phil turned back to look at him and his eyes were glistening, but his face had a hard expression. “It’s all I think about. I can’t even sleep to escape my own thoughts for a while. But that doesn’t change anything. If my family isn’t the one missing me, then some other family will miss someone else. It’s a life for a life and I don’t want it to be your life.”</p><p>Dan knew that Phil had a point and he didn’t know how to change his mind. He thought of going back home with this knowledge, living the rest of his life talking to a mirror that he wasn’t even sure had an actual person inside it. It was still an irrational thought and Dan didn’t know if he should trust his physical senses or his common sense. But he was so utterly lonely. He could see how easy it was for Phil to be convinced, to be used as a means to an end for someone’s evil plan.</p><p>“What if we switched back and forth or something?”</p><p>“Dan, I don’t think it works that way.”</p><p>“We can try.”</p><p>“I won’t risk it.”</p><p>Dan sighed. He had nothing to lose. He refused to go back home only to fall into a depression so deep that his mattress would swallow his entire body and never let him come up for a breath. He didn’t think he could endure another year like that. No therapists and no treatments would save him this time. “Phil, what are the words.”</p><p>“Dan, stop.”</p><p>“How did he know the words?”</p><p>“From—” Phil stuttered. “From the person before him.”</p><p>“You had to think about that.” An idea dawned on him. “Is there an inscription or something on here?”</p><p>“No!” Phil shouted, but Dan was turning the mirror around, examining every corner and every spot on its surface.</p><p>He hadn’t looked that closely before, as he had no reason to, but he couldn’t see anything in the dark, so he pulled his phone out and turned on the flashlight. He ignored Phil’s protests and scanned the frame, looking for anything that stood out. And at the bottom of the frame he found a small hole. The light revealed something white inside it. He needed something thin and long to reach in and pull it out. He undid his belt and used the metal piece that went into the holes of the belt to drag it up and bring it closer to the surface. He then grabbed it carefully between his nails which he thankfully had neglected trimming, and pulled out a tiny roll of paper, about the length of his thumbnail.</p><p>The paper looked thin and frail, so Dan unrolled it carefully. He squinted at the tiny font and read the two lines of text silently under his flashlight. </p><p>He turned the mirror around, Phil still pleading with him to stop doing what he knew Dan was doing.</p><p>“Phil. I have to try.”</p><p>“Dan, please, I beg you. Don’t do this.”</p><p>“I want to do this for you Phil. I’ll be okay.” He didn’t know if he would be. He’d probably be trapped forever, since the only person that would be willing to free him was the one that was currently trapped. “You’ll go home to your family and you’ll live your life. You’ll be okay.”</p><p>Dan was scared. He was terrified. But he loved Phil and his love for him was greater than his fear. So he said it.</p><p>“I love you.”</p><p>“Oh,” Phil said and it came out as a painful sob. “Oh Dan. I love you too. And I can’t let you do this. Please don’t do this.”</p><p>Dan smiled with tear-stained lips. “See you on the other side.”</p><p>He read the words out loud. He waited. The night was quiet apart from the crickets and the distant loud laughs and loud conversation of his family whenever they raised their voices.</p><p>Nothing out of the ordinary happened.</p><p>“Dan?”</p><p>Dan looked at the mirror expecting to see Phil in it, but he gasped. His own eyes were looking at him wide and in shock. It was a plain mirror. He felt something touch his shoulder and he yelped turning around. The mirror fell from his hand and he landed on the grass on his butt, but he barely felt any pain because he was stunned. There was a boy in front of him, looking down at him. Dan couldn’t make out his face in the dark, but he knew the shape of his hair and the flashlight was illuminating part of his legs. Red plaid.</p><p>“Phil?”</p><p>“Yeah. I think. I mean, yes, it’s me.”</p><p>Phil reached his hand down and Dan took it. It felt like taking a breath after being underwater for several seconds. A familiar sensation, but being deprived of it made it feel new and made him realize how much he needed it.</p><p>Phil pulled him up and as soon as Dan was on his feet, he put his other hand on top of Phils and encased it. Phil’s hand was small and soft and Dan couldn’t stop holding on to it. He finally found the courage to look him in the eye and he could barely see him, but he realized they were the same height.</p><p>“Hi,” he whispered.</p><p>“Hi,” Phil whispered back.</p><p>“Are you real?”</p><p>“I’m pretty sure I am. Are you?”</p><p>“If you are then I think I am too.”</p><p>Phil laughed softly.</p><p>“Can I hug you?” Dan was gonna go for it without asking, but he wasn’t sure he wasn’t dreaming. He spent three months talking to an image, a reflection, something that might have not been real. What if he let go of this hand and Phil vanished? What if Phil was an illusion, a delusion? What if Dan had breathed in so much dust from the attic that it had made him sick and made him hallucianate somehow?</p><p>Phil didn’t answer. He slipped his hand off Dan’s grasp and put his arms over Dan’s. Their chests touched, their chins rested on each other’s shoulder. Dan raised his arms and his hands found their way to the small of Phil’s back. He squeezed with all his might. If Phil was fake, if he was just full of Dan’s lonely fantasies and wild imagination, maybe he’d burst open.</p><p>But Phil let out a grunt. “You’re crushing me.”</p><p>Dan laughed and relaxed his grip. Phil was real. He had nerves that felt pain and bones that Dan could crush but he didn’t want to. He pulled away to face him.</p><p>“What happened?” Dan said like he couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t, he wasn’t able to process yet. All he knew was that he had a boy within his reach and he had touched him, he’d felt the evidence of his physical presence.</p><p>“I have no idea.” Phil thought about it for a second and then raised his shoulders. “Yeah, no idea. I heard you say the words. You should have been trapped.”</p><p>Phil seemed to have similar thoughts to Dan because they were still in a loose embrace and he kept touching Dan’s arms and shoulders and hands to make sure that Dan was physically present as well.</p><p>“Maybe love saved the day,” Dan said and he didn’t know if he believed it, but he didn’t believe he’d ever meet someone he loved so much that he’d give his life for them. “Love conquers all?”</p><p>Dan could feel more than see Phill roll his eyes. “You’re so ridiculously romantic.”</p><p>“You love me,” Dan said in a teasing tone. “You said you loved me while I was sacrificing myself to save you. That’s pretty romantic.”</p><p>“I do love you. And I hate you. I can’t believe you did that. I’m mad at you.”</p><p>Dan leaned in impulsively and kissed him. He kissed him like he needed a breath and he’d run out of his own. Phil held on to Dan’s arms and didn’t relax his hold until they broke apart to take a breath of their own.</p><p>“You can be mad at me all you want,” Dan said. “At least now you can leave the room when you have enough of me.”</p><p>He was trying to make Phil laugh but Phil started crying. “Yes,” he sobbed. “Yes, I can. I can’t believe it yet, I’ll have to walk through many doors to believe it, but I can’t wait to walk through all of them. Thank you, Dan. Thank you.”</p><p>-</p><p>They discussed what to do with the mirror and they decided to burn the tiny piece of paper and take a hammer to the mirror, courtesy of his grandparents’ toolbox he knew was in their shed. Apparently Phil’s bodily functions were returning because as soon as they were done smashing the mirror on the table in the shed, Phil ran outside to pee. Dan was left to gather all the pieces of wood and glass in a tin box that held iron nails before Dan dumped them out. The paper had burned to nothing.</p><p>Phil returned looking relieved, but his face fell when he looked inside the box.</p><p>“This used to be my prison. These stupid tiny pieces kept me trapped. Can you believe it?”</p><p>Dan smiled sympathetically and closed the lid.</p><p>“Let’s get rid of them.”</p><p>They threw them in the lake. Phil didn’t want to because he argued that the glass might hurt the fish. Dan wasn’t even sure if there was fish in the lake, and he doubted they minded. But his chest felt warm seeing how much Phil cared. He really didn’t want to hurt a living soul.</p><p>“Maybe that’s why you were freed,” he said right as the idea came to him.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You told me the truth. You didn’t trick me, or deceive me. You even tried to stop me. My choice to take your place was fully informed. Maybe the mirror was continuing this line of deceit, feeding off of it. Maybe you put a stop to it,” he finished enthusiastically.</p><p>Phil didn’t speak. They both looked at the bright moon, its light reflecting on the water, spilling over the surface.</p><p>“Maybe,” Phil said finally. “I’m just glad it’s not going to hurt anyone else. I’m glad it didn’t hurt you.”</p><p>He felt Phil’s hand brush his and he took it in his own.</p><p>“We should go back. We need snacks and a good night’s sleep. God knows we have some pretty intense explaining to do about where you came from.”</p><p>He pulled on Phil’s hand and they made their way through the night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the first fic I’ve ever posted so thank you for reading! Infinite thanks to Val @hiddenpastry for helping me with this story! You can find me on tumblr @glowingatmosphere.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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